A fictionalized biography of the mathematician and astronomer who realized his childhood desire to become a ship's captain and authored The American Practical Navigator.

Good-luck spell -- Privateers -- Word from the pilgrim -- "Boys don't blubber" -- Voice in the night -- "Sail by ash breeze!" -- Almanac -- "Lock, stock, and bookkeeper" -- Anchor to windward -- Freedom -- What next? -- Down to the sea -- Discovery -- Nineteen guns -- "Sail Ho-O-O-O-O!" -- Simple matter of mathematics -- Lunars and moonlight -- Astrea to the rescue -- Strange sailing orders -- Book sailing -- "Sealing is safer" -- Science and sumatra -- Captain Bowditch commanding -- Man against the fog

After finding a way to teach the ship's crew members to understand navigation, Nat, a self-taught mathematician and astronomer in eighteenth-century Salem, Massachusetts, writes down his explanations and compiles them into "The American Practical Navigator," also known as the "Sailors' Bible."

Newbery Medal, 1956

Middle School

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